Ella Kate Parker, Joscelyn Roberson lead junior elite field at 2021 Winter Cup
Tiny but mighty – also, downright talented – those are the first thoughts that come to mind after watching juniors Ella Kate Parker and Joscelyn Roberson impress during the junior women’s session of the 2021 Winter Cup in Indianapolis.
Roberson, 15, led through the first three rotations, but while she and Parker were neck-and-neck score-wise on the other apparatus, the latter jumped ahead in the last rotation after hitting her bars set (12.350), which included a stuck double layout dismount, to finish first in the junior division with a 52.350 all-around total.
“My favorite part of today was probably when I landed my dismount on bars,” Parker said after the meet. “I just knew I had done my best.”
Parker started her day on beam (13.600), showing a confidence that is almost unheard of for a junior – let alone a 13-year-old.
Her beam set included a back handspring to layout step out flight series, side aerial, switch leap half, and a powerful double back handspring to double twist dismount.
A skill that challenges even the best gymnasts, Parker had no trouble with the switch leap half saying, “I focus on being patient on the takeoff, and then snapping around and just not choking it.”
Parker’s floor exercise, which scored a 12.800, was arguably even more impressive. There, she opened with a piked full-in, triple full, 2.5 through to front pike, and a stuck double pike to finish.
Over on vault, Parker hit her Yurchenko full to earn a 13.600 (9.000 E-score), and while she plans to upgrade that vault to a double in the near future, her coach, Mary Lee Tracy, is taking things slow with the budding talent. Something Parker is okay with.
“It kind of slows my brain down, and I feel really confident,” Parker said of Tracy’s approach.
Roberson took silver with a 51.150, won beam (13.800), and took the bronze on floor with a 12.850 routine that included an excellent double layout, double Arabian, stuck double back, and 1.5 through to double pike to finish. She also plans to upgrade her Yurchenko full on vault (13.550) to a double.
Her lowest score of the day came on bars, where she earned a 10.950. She hopes to improve her consistency on the event and “maybe connecting my Ray into my Ezhova,” but that will probably be an upgrade for next year, when she joins the senior ranks.
WOGA’s Madray Johnson also earned an all-around score of 51.150.
Other event winners included Twin City Twisters’ Levi Jung-Ruivivar on bars (13.200), Metroplex’s Katelyn Jong on vault (14.300), and WOGA’s Paloma Spiridonova on floor (13.150).
Parker, Roberson, and Johnson’s all-around performances automatically qualified them to the 2021 U.S. Junior Women’s National Team. They are joined by Charlotte Booth (Brandy Johnson’s) and Nola Matthews (Airborne).
You can relive the 2021 Winter Cup – Junior-Senior Women’s Combined Session by reading our live blog here. Click here for full results.
All of the junior women’s routines from the 2021 Winter Cup can be watched on-demand at FloGymnastics.com.
